Chapter 1.

Grell smiled at himself in the mirror. Tonight was going to be a very fun and interesting night. The new death lists had just come in and in there seemed to be something he had been waiting for a while. It had to be. He would have to look his best, after all making a first impression was crucial when it came to making new contacts. He took his sweet time in finishing his make-up, making sure every line and highlight was on spot, each lash was straight and his lips were coloured to perfection. His long red hair could remain straight but he made sure it was anything but flat and that it veiled beautifully around his body. But the thing he loved the most was dressing up. The modern fashion had started to lose the traditional gender roles and being a true lady no longer meant wearing long puffy dresses with corsets. His waistline was perfection even without those. So he chose a tight and white button down shirt with ruffles on the collar, white skinny jeans, black killer heels and topped it all off with a red swing coat that made his figure look like that of a Barbie doll's. Yup, he was smoking. Though he loved his glasses he had worn for centuries, today contact lenses would be better. Another modern improvement. Feeling gorgeous he walked out of his bedroom and out into the rapidly darkening night.

Today it would be three young men and it was going to be brutal. Grell smiled as he watched from a rooftop to the entrance of a nightclub and saw a handsome man walk out with a young woman. Finally. The woman seemed to be way too intoxicated already, even though the evening had not gotten that late. She probably was not even drunk, that looked more like what roofies did to someone. This was going to be good.

The man was walking the woman along the street. People around would not pay attention to the two, only a few disapproving glances towards the woman's condition. That's it. Either no one cared of such matters that did not directly concern them or maybe no one just thought that there was anything to it. Either way, they walked undisturbed. The night had gotten completely dark but the lights and the people all around kept the city alive. The air was cold, it would probably even snow soon if it kept up like this. Grell loved snow, which unfortunately was not an often enough seen sight. The way everything turned white as if covering for the mistakes of the world. And the way everything else contrasted to the pure veil.

The couple reached an alley. The girl gave no objection when the man walked her in there, deeper and deeper and away from the fluorescent lights. Only a couple of cold streetlights kept the blackness away from the narrow street among the buildings. A tiny little hell made purely out of concrete. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop Grell kept up with them until they reached a small opening in the dead end. That's where the man's two friends were waiting.

"Heeeeey, babe, what's up? Have you had too much to drink?" asked the tallest one laughing. He was dressed nicely as all three of them were, not looking like the kind of guys who would usually hang out in dark alleys. They would have fitted more properly to a university café, each of them handsome and well groomed. Oh how interesting. This is just a fun and sadistic game to them, not a desperate necessity in order to get laid, Grell thought. In a moment all three of them were circling the girl, the man who brought her still holding her up. With a promise to make her feel better the tall one reached closer to her, slipped her coat off her and released her long platinum blonde hair from a ponytail. It fell into a veil around the girl and the man bent down apparently intending to kiss or lick her ear.

Then suddenly an ear wrenching scream. A man's scream. A gush of blood. More blood. Spatters all around. And a high pitched giggle. Grell smiled. It was as if it had started raining rubies, the dim lights sparked the thousands of single drops spreading from the fountain into life and they turned black as they touched the cobble stones on the ground. A splash dyed the dark brick wall behind them into a sickening scarlet shade. It started dripping in tiny rivers onto the lids of the two long forgotten square trash cans. A pulse, a gush. Another pulse, another gush. The other two men froze not understanding what had happened as the tall one fell to the cold ground rapidly bleeding out.

"Mmmmmmh…. You really did make me feel better" the high pitched voice said cheerfully. The girl was smiling as she licked the blood on her lips, her eyes glimmering and alive. "Now what about you two? Can you please me as well?" Without giving them the time to react she jumped grinning towards the man in front of her, managing to trip him. The man who had walked her out of the club sprinted off, suddenly desperate to get off the alley. She grabbed the fallen man's hair and bashed his head onto the hard stones. A crack. Again the skull rose and hit the ground in the delicate hand. A wetter crack. A splash. In three bashes his head had turned into a gory mush of brains, pieces of skull and blood that spilled out of him like a dropped bag of groceries that no one bothered to pick back up. The girl shook the gore off her hand and stood up. One more to go. The little rabbit had gone running.

But she was fast. There was no hope for her escort to escape anymore. With a laughter she started chasing him.

"Heeey, I thought we were going to have a party! You can't leave this early!" she giggled as she jumped to his back gracefully like a gazelle. He went down as well, not prepared to take the extra weight of her body so suddenly. He fought hard but she was strong and managed to lie him onto his back and sat on top of him. His hands tried to restrain her but she barely seemed to even notice his futile efforts for his life. Still laughing she literally tore the man apart. She dug her nails into his stomach and with incredible force ripped him completely open. The nails dug in just below the man's ribcage and a splash of drops flew into the air from the impact of the tearing skin. The girl embraced it with her mouth open and let out a delicate moan as the drops kissed her pale skin. The opening let out a slowly filling pool of blood that started flowing across his sides. She gently massaged the wet insides of the male before digging her hands deeper into him and hummed in bliss as she squeezed her skinny fingers around his ribcage from the inside and made it crack. The man's fighting arms dropped. His breathing slowed and disappeared. And the girl tilted her head backwards, breathed deeply the cold air, laughed and then started to lick her hands. The sight of her brought Grell some nostalgic memories.

"Oh, you were so cute. I'm so happy we got to have some fun together. Mmmmhh. You look even prettier now. Oh shoot, I think I forgot the drink you bought me onto the counter. Hmm, I don't think it is safe to go back for it, you never know what they put into them these days. Such pigs are all around. Luckily you were a real gentleman, walking me home and all" she said, dipped her index finger into the man's bloody intestines and licked it like a delicacy. Giggle.

"Now. How about you, are you ever going to introduce yourself?" she smiled up looking straight into Grell who was sitting on the rooftop. He froze. There was supposed to be no way she could see him. That was impossible. He was a reaper, only to be seen if he himself wished that or if the people were dying. So much for making a first impression then. Maybe this girl was way too close to death and it allowed her to able to see beyond this world. Grell tried to gather his dignity and gracefully jumped down.

"Excuse me for a moment" he said and started his deathscythe. He reaped each of the men while the girl watched in awe as the scythe went in. When he was done he smiled at the girl.

"Allow me to introduce myself. A Shinigami, a death God, a reaper in service of collecting the souls of all your friends here! Grell Sutcliff!" he said and made a seductive pose. The girl clapped her red hands at him.

"Hi Grell! I'm Nita. You have been following me for a while."

"Oh, just admiring your work while you have kept me busy with mine. You do have some amazing dates! Ah, I'm so jealous! Where do you even find all these pretty men? Today even a triple date! But all three of them just for you, no other women to try to screw up your game."

Grell observed the girl properly close up for the first time. She was cute as a button with her tiny figure and huge green eyes. Her long hair was almost as white as snow just as her skin and her lips were very pale pink. She was dressed in a short white dress that had now turned mostly red. She used to have a coat with her too but Grell had no idea where it had gone. She looked innocent and sweet even in her heavy winged eyeliner. Her body and face was covered in blood spatters. So pretty in red. She smiled at him.

"I think I can try to find some hot guys for you too if you'd like? There are plenty."

"So intriguing. But... my heart is already taken, so I must use my charms to get them on a date with me. Soon they will fall and I will have my happily ever after." he said dramatically. "Anyways… About your work. You seem to like it?" he grinned a cheshirecat-like smile. She laughed.

"Work? No, this is just a hobby. It's fun and all but it doesn't pay the bills. Also for it to be "work", I would need a greater goal. Hmm. I never thought about that. See, I am not on a mission or a payroll. That is an interesting choice of words. But yeah, this is fun! I had always dreamed about doing this kind of things. I guess you know already that I only started doing this a while ago." Grell looked back at her confused. He knew her "hobby" came out of a twisted instinct she had given into and not out of the need to hand out justice to pigs but maybe if there was no conviction at all he would not succeed with his idea.

"Well, it's nice for a girl to have hobbies. I was just wondering if you would happen to be interested in a hunt?"

"Uuu, sounds fun. Tell me more." Her eyes glimmered with interest. She was still sitting on her dates lap and she took another taste on her finger. Grell wondered if he should be shuddering but he didn't.

"See, there are these… swines. And they would be really ripe for a good hunt." Grell grinned at the idea. "Unfortunately I, as a professional am not able to take part in such a fun activity but their MO got me sorta thinking of yours. And that maybe you might be interested in hunting in your own league. They seem to be having the same hobby as yours but their practises towards women make me want to rip their heads off. And they give me way too much work. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job but these guys need to be on my death list and soon. That's where you would come in. Discreetly, of course. I cannot be involved in the matters of human lives. But this is starting to feel almost personal."

"Sure, I think that sounds like fun. I'm in!"

"Huh? Just like that?" This was way easier than Grell had ever expected.

"Well yeah. Why not? I have my hobby and you have a suggestion for a bigger, funnier prey. Of course I'm in! It's a win-win situation. So who are they?" she asked thrilled.

"Umm, that falls unfortunately to the Shinigami jurisdiction. I cannot tell you, it is prohibited as their identities are unknown to everybody except the reapers who have seen them at their work. It is a stupid rule but if I gave you that information it would be too easily traced right back to me. And I have not been in any trouble for years and I wish to remain so. Now this whole thing is bending the rules and I cannot let my involvement be noticed. Officially I am not involved in any way, right?" She looked to be considering something.

"But I didn't even know of their existence. I have never heard of them. How could I find them without any leads?"

"Yes, it has been kept quiet and out of the media. But I have a friend who might be able to help if we could just convince him on board with this. Without him this probably will not work at all. But I had to ask you first of course."

"You seem to have some fun friends. You are the first person with whom I ever even got to talk about doing this. Who is he?"

"A pathologist."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a quick change of clothes in her apartment Nita found Grell waiting for her right outside. She had kept loyal to her evening's choice and put on another short white dress with long sleeves. Over it she wore a fur lined leather jacket and her feet were covered with high heeled boots. She shivered as the cold air hit her when she walked out the door. It was the middle of the night but the city never really slept and tonight neither did she. If she hadn't been so vain she would have worn something warmer, but the stamina of the Saturday night just begged for glamour and her blood ran way too hot. She had corrected her make-up after removing the blood on her skin but you could still see some on her hair. It didn't matter though, not a single person would take a big notice at this hour and the only person she would probably see tonight was going to be the pathologist whom she would not need to hide from. So she had just shrugged it off in front of the mirror. Grell had explained to her that the pathologist was a retired Shinigami who now made all the research with the bodies of the murdered.

They walked deeper into the night and towards the hospital in which the Shinigami worked. It was not that far from her apartment but the walk was not pleasant with her boots and Nita found herself wishing they would have grabbed a cab. At this time the drivers were busy though and getting one would have meant even more time spent on the journey. So she sucked it up and walked in the attire she had chosen. Soon they reached the hospital and headed towards the morgue. Grell had assured her that he would be still working tonight.

The morgue was situated in the very end of the large building and to get there one had to descend to the cellar underground. The fluorescent lights were bright enough to hurt their eyes as they came in from the darkness of the night. Everywhere it smelled like disinfectants and something else. The walls were white with ugly pastel green boards that were supposed to bring some kind of calm into people but in Nita's opinion they failed miserably. They reached the last steps and walked to a heavy double door. Usually the doors in hospitals had windows but this one did not, probably to prevent anyone seeing a dissection from outside. Grell knocked and walked right in without waiting for an answer. The area was huge and covered mostly in white ceramic tiles. The metal tables were everywhere, some attached to drains, others with wheels. On the walls were tens of metallic cubic storage units for the bodies, all of them closed. The air was cold to prevent too early decomposition. And in the back of the room was a big desk in front of which the pathologist was seated.

The Shinigami lifted an expressionless gaze from his papers as they entered. He was a gorgeous and a bit androgynous man. His thick silver hair was gathered into a single long braid, he wore glasses with light spectacles and behind them his green eyes shone a yellowish glimmer. His face and neck were split with two long scars. He wore a white lab coat and under it a white buttoned shirt and dark jeans.

"Hello, Grell. Long time, no see. What do you need this time?" he directed his question at Grell but looked at the blood stains in the girl's hair.

"Hiiiiiii. So nice to see you again. You look as pretty as ever. But I am quite insulted that you straight assume that I need something. Couldn't I just come see you to catch up?" A faint smile crossed the pathologist's lips but he remained silent and waited for an answer to his question. Grell sighed.

"Meet my friend Nita" he said directing his hand to the girl. Nita walked up to him and held out her hand.

"Hi. You're like, super beautiful. I would really like to play with you sometimes" she purred smiling with her lips slightly parted. She was a master at making something seem extremely innocent but at the same time implicate that there was nothing innocent to it. The pathologist frowned. He knew what he looked like but he had never gotten used to the aggressive ways modern women used to implicate their attraction. It was a lot easier in the old days when a decent woman would just hide all the immoral thoughts they may have had. He was so old that asides from appreciating beauty he did not really feel the need to interact intimately with women. He smiled politely anyway and stood up as he gave the girl his hand. Only then did she really see how very tall he was.

"I am pleased to meet you, Nita. You may call me Adrian if you wish." That was not his real name though. His actual name had been gone for so long that even he himself didn't really recognize it anymore. Nor would he speak it to anyone. It had been easier a century ago when everyone was content in just calling him the undertaker when he was working as a mortician. No one cared for names when one's profession defined who they were. With the modern ages and the requirements in practicing medicine an official identity was required. So he used this name for now. Some reapers still called him undertaker and he did not oppose.

He lifted his head up from the light polite bow he had given to the lady and took turns to look at both of his guests.

"As pleased as I am from getting the company I somehow doubt that you two happen to be here tonight just to ask me how I am?"

"Well…" Grell grinned. "Not entirely." He went straight to the point. "You probably remember those gruesomely treated ladies you have been receiving discreetly? So one day it crossed my mind. I just thought that what if there was a way to speed up the conclusion of the case, to bring the disgrace to an end and the murderers to …. the grave?" He smiled an innocent smile at that. "If there was someone who could do that without it affecting the Shinigami code? Like, say, a passionate and strong serial killer who would love nothing more than to have a little hunting game?" Nita smiled an innocent smile and waved her fingers to the pathologist. That was not what he had expected their business to be. Quite blunt, indeed. He looked at the girl with a serious expression hiding his surprise. He wasn't quite shocked though, he had seen manic killers before and they did not usually look like it at first. And the girl's hair was covered in blood. That meant…

"Are you the other one who has been working me this much lately?" he asked the girl politely. He thought about the bodies. All males, all brutally murdered with a manic passion. Some were killed without any appliances, just hands and teeth, but some had been treated with variating edged weapons. Someone, she, had really been enjoying the gore and the show of their insides. But there were also indications that possibly all of the victims were some kind of abusers. She probably enjoyed making them feel overpowered in the hands of a tiny pretty girl. He found that immediately interesting.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Have I been causing you trouble? I never actually thought about it from that view" she seemed to be genuinely apologetic.

"No trouble. This is my work. But Grell." he turned to look at the redhead. "Another Madame Red? Have you not learned anything?"

"It is not the same this time! I will not be really involved and therefore not breaking any rules. I just barely made a suggestion for her and she was immediately on board. That is basically where my involvement ends."

"And then why are you here seeing me?" Grell seductively sat on the desk in front of which the pathologist stood. He reached to run a finger on his arm as he explained.

"But aren't you like the master of secrets? With a secretive veil you might be able to help her get closer to them. You do understand that I am in no place to give out any information about the Shinigami business but I'm sure a smart guy like you, having inspected the bodies and all, could get after them."

"The dispatch might find out if I get involved in their deaths. And really, why should I get mixed into human affairs?"

"Oh, you wouldn't get involved in the deaths, that would be all her. You would just help her find the way. You cannot access the death lists anymore. So you are not taking any sides as you do not know what is going to happen. You are no longer required to follow the Shinigami procedures as strictly as I am as you cannot affect the human lives and deaths if you do not know whether they are supposed to live or die. Unless of course you decide it would be fun to start raising the dead. And does it not bother you to see what they do to the innocent ladies?" The pathologist mulled that over in his head. The redhead did have a point, there would be no harm if he wished to help the girl. It would be like old times, he would give information from the underworld to those who he considered worth it regardless of what they might do with the information given. He could not decide the actions of others. And the murderers were scum that only caused the whole world nothing but trouble. He looked at the girl. She smiled at him in return. Just like another puppy dog with teeth itching for blood to be released upon the trash of society. How nostalgic the whole situation was.

"Congratulations, Grell. You have made your point. I suppose I could consent." Grell jumped from the table and jumped to him, clinging into his neck.

"Aaaa, you are the best! I knew you could be counted on! And your payment?" he smiled at the older Shinigami. He let go as he saw the emotionless face he was wearing.

"It will be for free. Making such payments these days would be too difficult for you" he smiled sadly.

The two had made their departure after they had agreed that Nita would come back the next evening to go over the cases. The night was not over for a pathologist, though. The detective wore a grave face as he announced another three bodies coming up and that he needed the reports as soon as possible. All three of them were rolled in and in solitude, one by one he unveiled them. He knew whose work this was and wondered what the detective would say if he knew he was having a date with her tomorrow. The idea made his lips curl up.

Then he wondered again. Is this what she might have meant by wanting to play with him? A weird shiver ran down his spine and he did not know why.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hey, I hope you guys liked it though it is only the beginning. I will be writing this weekend and hope to add the next chapter as soon as possible.

I have sketched this story into about five chapters. Please review! :) xoxo